Sweet and Creative

Depending on the specific mix that you want to achieve, you can create a creature that has animal and human traits in one of two ways. The first way is to paint an animal as usual, then add human gestures and expressions.
Assigning human qualities to non-human creatures, objects or concepts is called anthropomorphism, and has been used throughout history as a literary device.

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Most anthropomorphic creatures in fables, for example, begin by referencing an animal form before adding one or two visual human characteristics, such as human eyes, hands, or stance and posture.
The second way to achieve a mixed creature is by starting with a human form and adding animal characteristics, as shown in my example here.